How 'SNL' helped get Kirsten Gillibrand into Senate

Kirsten Gillibrand, then a congresswoman, speaks at her 2009 appointment to the U.S. Senate by Gov. David Paterson, pictured on her right. (Mike Groll, AP)

Former New York governor David Paterson says Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s empathy over how he was portrayed by Saturday Night Live helped her win his appointment in 2009 for the seat of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Capital New York talked to Paterson and reviewed 56 boxes of papers related to his closely watched Senate appointment. The story published Monday recounts Paterson’s decision-making process — as well as now-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s interest in getting the appointment to succeed Clinton, who left the Senate to become President Obama’s secretary of State.

Gillibrand’s appointment was criticized by some who weren’t sure the Democrat from Upstate New York could win statewide and by others who wanted to see Caroline Kennedy get the job. But Kennedy, who had a disastrous rollout as a potential Senate candidate, withdrew from consideration before Paterson made his decision.

Paterson says in the Capital New York story that Gillibrand had commiserated about how Saturday Night Live had depicted Paterson, who is blind, as bumbling and frequently bumping into things. Gillibrand advised Paterson to speak out for people with disabilities, according to Capital New York.

I was very touched at how she made me feel as a human being, and I thought, that was one area that I didn’t know about her—I knew she was smart, I knew she spoke well, I knew she worked hard, I knew she could win because she got Republican votes.

Gillibrand went on to win the 2010 election to serve out the remainder of Clinton’s term and then easily won a full, six-year term in 2012. Today, she is sometimes mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2016 but wants to see Clinton run and win.

SNL, meanwhile, apologized to Paterson, who later appeared on the show alongside Fred Armisen, the actor who portrayed him.

Paterson also told the SNL story in a New Yorker profile of Gillibrand that appeared in December.